Federal appeals court postpones execution over drug secrecy

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Saturday postponed [opinion, PDF] an Arizona death row inmate's execution until prison officials reveal details on the two-drug combination that will be used for the lethal injection. Joseph Wood's attorneys argued [AP report] that their client's First Amendment rights were violated by the prison officials withholding detailed information on the drugs used for his lethal injection. Wood requested the information following recent procedural issues with legal injections within the US. It is reported that Arizona prison officials will look to use drug combinations that differ from the ones used in previous botched lethal injections.

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